Hunting coat



March 14,1939. L. SHANHOUSE HUNTING COAT Filed May 12, 1938 NVENTOFL, Leo/70rd Shari/muse R WW6 v T Patented Mar. 14, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

The invention relates to garments of the general type commonly known as hunting coats and provided with a game pouch incorporated in the structure of the coat.

The general object of the invention is to provide a hunting coat having an improved back section constructed to provide an extensible game pouch and arranged so that the inner walls of the garment will not pull or bulge away from 0 the wearers back even when the pouch is full,

and having fasteners arranged to take up the fullness provided in the garment for the pouch so as to give the garment the contour of an ordinary coat when the pouch is empty,

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a garment of the character described embodying a game pouch arranged in the lower back portion of the coat and covered by a back panel of coating material overlying the entire back of the coat and secured to the inner back section of the coat by slide fasteners at its lower side edges so that the fasteners can be closed to hold the panel in a position of an ordinary back section of a coat or alternatively opened to permit the lower portion of the panel to swing out for filling of the pouch beneath it.

Other objects will be appreciated and understood after reading the following description and claims and after viewing the drawing in which Figure 1 is a perspective profile View of a hunting coat or other similar garment exemplifying one embodiment of the invention, the game pouch being shown in its closed position.

Figs. 2 and 3 are perspective profile views of the garment of Fig. 1 with the game pouch distended and shown respectively as closed and open.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view along the line 44 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view along the line 5-5 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail perspective View of the removable waterproof lining provided for the pouch.

The hunting coat chosen for. illustration of the invention in Fig. 1 comprises front sections II], which may be buttoned or otherwise secured together at the front in the usual manner, sleeves 503 II, and a back section, designated generally by the numeral I2, of an improved construction arranged to form adistensible game pouch. In general, this pouch is fashioned in the form of a bellows-like extension on the back of the coat so that when filled it will not pull the back of the coat away from the wearers back, and when empty the fullness of the garment necessary for the pouch can be wholly concealed.

In the preferred construction illustrated, the back section I2 015 the coat embodies an inner layer or panel of coating material I3 (Fig. 4) and an outer layer or panel I4. Preferably, the outer panel i4 is coextensive with the inner panel I3 so that it gives the appearance, when the pouch is empty, of being simply the back of an ordinary sport coat. To enhance the appearance of the garment, the outer panel I4 may be madeof the same material as the front and sleeves of the coat. The top and upper side mar ginal edges of the overlying back panel I4 are stitched to the coat body while the lower portion is arranged to swing outwardly to accommodate a game pouch between it and the inner layer I3 of the back section. In the construction shown, the layers or panels of material I3 and i4 constitute the inner and outer walls of the pouch, a pouch-like space I5 (Fig. l) being formed between when the outer panel It is pulled away from the inner panel l3. Their top marginal edges are secured together and to the front sec tions It along the usual shoulder seam It (Fig. 1). The upper portions of the side edges of the panels I 3 and hi are also seamed together and to the sleeves II from the point of the shoulder down to a point I? adjacent the armpit. The lower portion of the outer panel i4 is thereby left free to be swung outwardly to form the pouch space I5 while the inner panel I3 remains snugly about the wearers body.

To add sufiicient fullness to the back section I2 of the coat so that articles can be placed in the pouch space I5 formed between the inner and outer panels I3 and is, additional portions of material indicated at I8 and It (Figs. 2 and 4) are provided between the adjacent side and bottom edges respectively of the panels I3 and I4. These portions are folded or pleated along lines generally paralleling the adjacent marginal edges of the back section panels and cooperate therewith to form a bellows wall which may be expanded to provide the pouch space I5 or collapsed so as to conform to the wearers body indicated at 23.

While the portions It may be separate pieces of cloth, they are in the present instance formed as marginal edge extensions of the back panels I4 being folded inwardly from the side edges of the panel as indicated at 26 and folded intermediate their own edges as shown at 24. remote edge portion of each portion I8 thus extends along the panel I3 with its edge disposed between the side edge of the panel I3 and a fold 25 along the edge of the adjacent front piece It. Herein, the portion is is formed as a bottom margin extension of the outer wall It and is folded at 21 and 28 to form a lower bellows wall which is stitched to the panel l3 as indicated at 29. All of the other folds are stitched along their lengths so that the bellows portions will return readily to their folded positions when the The.

parts.

pouch is empty. At the corners of the pouch, the portions l8 and I9 are joined along a V- shaped seam l9 Access is afforded. to the interior of the pouch through slits 3! (Figs. 2 and 3) formed in the bellows walls I8 along lines spaced toward the panel Hi from the central fold 24. The edges defining the slits are folded as indicated at 2| and secured to tapes 28 which carry interengageable parts 33 of ordinary slide fasteners or zippers 32. With such an arrangement, the wearer may readily open the pouch by pulling one of the zippers 32 upwardly and opening the slit 3! as shown in Fig. 3.

The garment is shaped to the wearers body in" the manner of an ordinary coat when the pouch space is is empty. For this purpose additional slide fasteners or zippers 35 cooperate with interengageable parts 35 (Figs. 2 and 3) on the tapes 5 secured to the folds 25 and 25 along the side edges of the back panels [3 and I4. When the slide fasteners 3 are pulled down to the position shown in Fig. 1, the portions 58 forming the ends of the pouch are collapsed together between the panels l3 and M and completely concealed, all fullness in the garment being taken up. Upon moving the zipper 34 upward to the position shown in Fig, 2, the openings 3! in the end of the pouch are exposed and the lower portion of the back panel M is free to expand in the manher of a bellows. Although buttons or other fastening means may be used, the zipper type is preferred because the long side edges of the panels l3 and it are held neatly together throughout their length giving the garment a neat appearance and preventing any bagging or sagging.

To prevent the garment from becoming stained or wet from game placed in the pouch space I5, a Waterproofed lining is preferably utilized. This lining has been shown as a tubular section 36 (Fig. 6) of waterproof material such as oil cloth, open at its opposite ends, and removably secured in the pouch space 15 by buttons 3i. As shown in Fig. 5, the buttons are secured to the portions l3 between the latter and the panels l3 and M. Thus, the ends of the lining lie within the folds of the bellows thereby avoiding the bulkiness that would result from folding the lining or other At the same time, the lining is readily removable. When buttoned in position, the open ends of the lining 36 register with the slits 3! so that game or other articles may be inserted readily into the waterproof pouch.

The various parts of the coat illustrated may be composed of any of the usual heavy coating materials suitable for the uses and purposes to which the garment is to be adapted. The pattern may call for construction from any number of pieces of material seamed together in any desirable manner as will be understood. The garment may be lined or left unlined as may be desired and various other features may be incorporated in accordance with the usual practice. For example, the coat may be provided with a collar 38 and a loose belt 39 if such an arrangement is desired. Generally speaking, the details of construction such as the pattern used, whether the garment is provided with cuffs, whether there is a lining, etc. may be relatively immaterial and the same is true of the means to efiect the closing of the front of the garment.

When the pouch space 15 is empty and all of the zippers are closed, as shown in Fig. l, the

coat has a pleasing appearance and presents no unsightly bulges or openings due to the presence of the pouch. The fullness in the garment necessary to form the pouch is entirely taken up by the zippers 34 and the outer back panel l4 stretched neatly across the wearers back. On the other hand, when the zippers 34 are opened, as shown in Fig. 2, a large game-carrying space is provided in the back of the coat which is readily' accessible. Even when the pouch space is filled, however, the inner panel l3 of the back section of the coat conforms closely to the wearers body so that the articles in the pouch do not pull the coat away from the wearer allowing'wind to blow up his back, making him chilly and uncomfortable.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in some detail for illustration of its various novel features, there is no intention to limit the invention to such embodiment but, on the other hand, the appended claims are intended to cover all modificatio-ns and alternative constructions within the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hunting coat having a back comprising two substantially coextensive separate layers of material secured together along their top edges and the upper portions of their side edges, additional material forming inverted pleats along the lower side and bottom edges of said material adding fullness thereto to form a pouch in the lower end of the back of the coat disten'sible outwardly without disturbing the inner layer of material next to the wearers back, said pleated material having a slit in at least one side portion thereof to afford access to said pouch, a slide fastener arranged to close said slit, and additional slide fasteners along the lower portions of said side edges of said layers of material for securing the same together when the pouch formed therebetween is empty to conceal said pleated material and first named fastener and to cause the coat to fit smoothly about the wearer.

2. In a hunting coat, front, back and sleeve parts, a panel of coating material overlying the lower part of said back of the coat, said panel being secured at its side and bottom edges to said back of said coat by pleated portions of material to form a rearwardly extensible pouch, said pouch having an. opening in one end thereof, fastening means for closing said opening, and slide fasteners along the opposite side edges of said panel releasably securing the same to the adjacent portions of the coat when the pouch is empty to conceal said pleated portions of material as well as said opening and the fastening means for closing the latter.

3. In a hunting coat, front, back and sleeve parts, said back part including two substantially coextensive separate layers of material, additional material forming inverted pleats along the lower side and bottom edges of said material adding fullness thereto to form an expansible pouch in the lower portion of said back, said pleated material having slits in the side portions thereof to afford access to said pouch, a generally tubular open-ended lining of waterproof material removably secured in said pouch with the ends thereof registering with said slits, and fasteners along the lower portions of said side edges of said layers for securing the same together when the pouch therebetween is empty.

LEONARD SHANHOUSE. 

